HC Deb 23 October 1908 vol 194 cc1490-1
CAPTAIN CRAIG (Down, E.)

To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the reasons which have prompted the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland to close the Church of Ireland national school, Magherahamlet, Ballynahinch, county Down.

(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Commissioners of National Education inform me that on the resignation of the late teacher grants were withdrawn from this school, which had an average attendance of only nineteen pupils, under the provisions of Rule 179 (c), as, in view of the educational facilities afforded by other schools in the locality, it was no longer required. There are two national schools under Protestant management within a distance of two miles of this school, and the pupils formerly on its rolls can conveniently attend one or the other of these schools.